Disappointed so far with kitchen remodel plans

[Anonymous]

I think you need Houzz and Pinterest more than a designer

I had a kitchen designed and ordered my open shelves elsewhere and figured out the placement on my own based on photos i liked. Open shelving through your cabinet maker is often pricey and unattractive

[Anonymous]

My contractor had a designer who drew up a basic cabinet plan and then I went through, in my head, every basic kitchen task and thought about where I should keep things, where I needed drawers, where I would put small appliances, etc. I thought about sight lines and what I wanted to see when I walked into the kitchen. But I didn’t have to choose grout, molding and little details—my contractor had good taste and steered all of those decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can look on Etsy for someone cheap but again, you get what you pay for and you need to be involved in decisions. To be honest, you sound difficult. You have to be involved in every little decision and a kitchen designer won’t change that. You are being very naive about the level of involvement with renovations.

Involved is one thing, but a designer is supposed to design and advise, not just draw what you described.

[Anonymous]

There are also some good Facebook groups to bounce ideas off of.

[Anonymous]

You can get a functional kitchen replicating your existing w/corrections made from your identified problem areas but a good kitchen designer will not only make a more beautiful kitchen they will add in utility and ease. A great one will take your budget and stretch it to accomplish a kitchen beyond your expectations.

I’m a designer but the two kitchens I’ve redone I’ve brought in a kitchen designer whose work I knew and admire. She made my initial designs so much better. She knew from her years of experience the pros and cons of cabinet choices, what selections meant for lighting choices and stretched my budgets so, even with her fees added on, I felt I got more bang for the bucks I spent.

And re IKEA kitchens: we did one in a house that has now been a rental for more than 15years. I am SO impressed still with the quality. Everything is still in nearly perfect shape including the set of pull out pantry cabinets that I was most worried about. Then and now their aesthetic is so much nicer than mid-grade cabinets - and so much less $$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can look on Etsy for someone cheap but again, you get what you pay for and you need to be involved in decisions. To be honest, you sound difficult. You have to be involved in every little decision and a kitchen designer won’t change that. You are being very naive about the level of involvement with renovations.

Huh, what? I'm sorry, but no. While the owner has to make decisions, the designer's job is to translate general direction into a finished design and to provide guidance and recommendations. The idea that you need "to be involved in every little decision" means that your designer isn't earning their pay.

[Anonymous]

It’s been years ago but we used Lowe’s kitchen designer for layout. She did a great job and tho go t of lots of things I wouldn’t have. Pulls out on every cabinet and built in pantry with pull outs. Also our neighbor used HD and had every bell and whistle. Beautiful. Of course our homes only cost $900+. I found kitchen designers overpriced and their cabinets very expensive. It’s been 11 years and they look great.

[Anonymous]

^^ we also have 12 feet of granite counters = heavy. The cabinets have no problem holding the weight.

[Anonymous]

Try Stuart Kitchens in McLean. http://www.stuartkitchens.com/locations.htm

We’ve worked with great designers at their Bethesda location and they can draw up a plan and you won’t be charged unless you move forward with them.

Fwiw I think some open shelving around a window is a great idea. We did that and it works and looks great. Most of the cabinets are enclosed but this section lightens up the space

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So two things: most people you've consulted have no idea how kitchens work. They just give you a template from the shelf. Designing kitchens that work is a trade in itself and it has nothing to do with selling cabinets.

That was the first thing.

The second thing is I wonder if you've set yourself up for disappointment by telling them you're not moving anything. If you aren't, then exactly what is your remodel about? Prettier cabinets and counters? You definitely don't need a designer for that, but as you said, this is the only remodel of your life so doesn't it make sense to use this chance to get a kitchen that works for you? is your current kitchen perfect in every way except everything is broken? I mean are your stove, sink, oven, fridge in the perfect place? Are your cabinets laid out perfectly except they are broken? What I'm saying is - are you maybe missing an opportunity here?

This is what I would do (and in fact have done twice). Make a plan of your current kitchen as accurately as you can, and post it on houzz' kitchen forum asking for help for the kitchen layout. You'd have more and better advice than you can buy. Don't rush the layout development phase. It's the only part that matters. Once you have the layout in place, the rest is just finishes.

Parting thoughts: IKEA cabinets are actually quite good, present tons of interesting design opportunities (via custom fronts you can get from a dozen companies) and have unrivaled cost/value ratio. Don't knock them. I mean don't use IKEA if you don't want to, but it's wrong to say IKEA and mean "dumb, design-less solution".

If you listen to anyone on this thread, please listen to this PP, she nailed it. The layout is THE most important thing in kitchens, and those designers over on HOUZZ are aces at spotting problems in designs.

OP here - I'm a little confused by the whole process, because we already have a general layout, meaning where the appliances are and just in general where cabinets will be. We aren't planning to change much in those terms - we like the way the house is designed already. It's just a matter of needing completely new cabinets, floor, appliances, sink, everything. The place I'm stuck on is the aesthetic details. For example, the contractor provided a drawing with a range hood over the stove, but it's half the height of the surrounding cabinets and looks weird. He also put in solid cabinets on both sides of a window, and I hate the way that blocks the light and wanted a bit of open shelving there - but I don't know where the shelves should start and stop and how to keep it symmetrical along the wall with the stove on the same wall, where to start the large pantry cabinets and not overwhelm the space, and so on. That's probably the biggest issue - just figuring out how many upper cabinets and where to place them exactly, what kind of molding or trim to use, what height to make them, and how many full length cabinets. And of course, the finishes. The house has a lot of unique features and a very intentional design as far as the geometry of the rooms, and I don't want to ruin the look by throwing something off. So the little drawing that the contractor's designer sent me was kind of useless - they just stuck cabinets in a cad program to fill up the space. I could do that myself in ikea (I did).

I guess I need a kitchen designer, but I don't know how to find one who is affordable. I'm considering using a design/build company, but they all want you to buy cabinets through them and the prices are just over the top (like 20K for cabinets you can get on RTA or Ikea for 10K). Would love to find an independent designer that would not cost more than 5K, but does that even exist?

Make several copies of what was sent to you, and start just penciling and changes that you propose. Then make an appointment for non-busy time, like Saturday night, and go to the Lowe’s and then repeat at Home Depot. You have much more time to spend with them – you can explain these things and they can help make changes. Don’t automatically say you’re not using their cabinets. Maybe you do maybe you don’t. But they are very easy to talk to you and you can work back-and-forth more with them.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you know what layout you want but you’re concerned with some logistics as to what will work in an engineering manner?

Open shelves near a window bring in more light sounds great, but if you have limited storage space, consider opening up the window into a bay or box window to get more directional light. It’s a little more expensive, but it can be done after your cabinets are installed.

Cabinets- I hate ikea. Only because I prefer base drawers to wood. Structurally speaking they are very good, but have limited sizes.

Check out rta cabinets from barker or another brand. They have kitchen designers that can map out the entire kitchen for you.

A lot of affordable contractors want you to have a design ready for them. If you aren’t moving too much stuff, you can do the design yourself and check with the foreman to make sure it will work.

[Anonymous]

Hi op. I just designed a similar Scandinavian inspired kitchen and love it (and love the open shelving that I use just as you describe). Honesty I did the design myself and anything I got from kitchen places was super basic. We used ikea cabinets with semihandmade fronts - check it out. Really has a lot of options for more modern looks and the cabinets are seriously wonderful. IKEA makes them so so functional and semihandmade makes them look more like midrange. It does require a lot of work on your end designing but for me it was worth it to get what I wanted. I did a lot of research and figuring out the look I wanted and then replicated. Check out DeVol kitchens too. One option is to design your own this way and then hire a contractor to do it. Since you have a decent budget you could also hire a kitchen designer. I’m not sure exactly where to find one but maybe post on some local list serves and interview one til you find someone willing. I would also look on Instagram and find designers that you like what they’ve done. A lot of them do virtual consulting right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi op. I just designed a similar Scandinavian inspired kitchen and love it (and love the open shelving that I use just as you describe). Honesty I did the design myself and anything I got from kitchen places was super basic. We used ikea cabinets with semihandmade fronts - check it out. Really has a lot of options for more modern looks and the cabinets are seriously wonderful. IKEA makes them so so functional and semihandmade makes them look more like midrange. It does require a lot of work on your end designing but for me it was worth it to get what I wanted. I did a lot of research and figuring out the look I wanted and then replicated. Check out DeVol kitchens too. One option is to design your own this way and then hire a contractor to do it. Since you have a decent budget you could also hire a kitchen designer. I’m not sure exactly where to find one but maybe post on some local list serves and interview one til you find someone willing. I would also look on Instagram and find designers that you like what they’ve done. A lot of them do virtual consulting right now.

Just read your update and realized I should add that I paid a friend who is an interior designer to consult on my design. Honestly personally would not pay 20k for cabinets in a design you don’t like. It sounds like what you need is to find someone who understands your aesthetic who will help you with those questions you have. And I really do think it’s worth at least perusing semihandmade for ideas at a minimum. And it really might be a good option. You get a custom look for a much more reasonable price and everything I read was if you’re going with midrange cabinets these actually look nicer.

[Anonymous]

Here you can go through pages and pages of past semihandmade projects for at least inspiration: https://www.semihandmade.com/blogs/past-projects

We did our open shelves by the window, just one level and just enough space to hold a few items we use every single day. It’s incredibly convenient (and I set it up so dishwasher is right by them) and has the clean, simple, scandi look I was hoping for. One negative of ikea cabinets I failed to mention is they only come in certain sizes so sometimes you have to have a little filler which ended up fine. They have extra hidden drawers at the top of many of their drawer sets that are hard to explain but so incredibly functional and helpful. So from a storage perspective they are great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the rest of the house hardwood?

We currently have a patchwork of every kind of floor you can imagine, in an open concept no less. It's an old home, so water is an issue and there is already damage to existing hardwood. We want to pull all the old floors up and replace them with one really hardy flooring. We are using a high quality LVP and haters can hate, but I like how it looks and am going to love the durability.

Ooph, this is a big missed opportunity to put down continuous wood. It will hurt you on resale.